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In a close vote on Saturday, the Spokane County Republican Party replaced it chairwoman with the former mayor of Airway Heights.
Precinct committee officers voted 91-85 for Matthew Pederson, a current Airway Heights city councilman, over the incumbent leader, Cindy Zapotocky.
Heading into the race, Zapotocky was seen to have backing from the grassroots of the party while Pederson was supported by many elected Republicans, including Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin.
Supporters of Zapotocky said she was a tireless advocate for GOP candidates and stood up for concerns from the grassroots. Opponents argued that she was divisive and unable to bring unity to the party.
Pederson said Saturday evening that he’s confident that the party will unite with the new leadership team.
The party elected Laurie Roth, a conservative talk show host based in Elk, vice chairwoman. Roth has backing from some Tea Party supporters and on her Web site accuses President Barack Obama of attempting to turn the United States into a communist-style regime.

The Spokane County Republican Party announced over the weekend that it was endorsing Dino Rossi for U.S. Senate, Cathy McMorris Rodgers for Congress and Al French for county commissioner. Those aren’t surprising moves given the results of the August primary.

But at least one GOP candidate who made it through to November remains without party backing: three-term incumbent Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker. He faces Democrat Frank Malone in the general election.

County Party Chairwoman Cindy Zapotocky said the party hasn’t considered whether to back Tucker because he hasn’t requested an endorsement. The party backed Dave Stevens, who serves as the county party’s vice chairman, in the primary. Zapotocky said Tucker could still request consideration in time for the party’s board to take up the issue in October.